Gin



' March 30, 1937. R w, M AN 2,075,586

GIN

Filed Oct. 9, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l Z2 J7werzl0r W7 120 2 67; MMLEQ70 March 30, 1937.

R. W. M LEAN GIN Filed Oct. 9, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Weak? 0,567jt lrfj clemv wwnwwv Hanna? Patented Mar. 30, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GIN Application October 9, 1935, Serial No. 44,238

4 Claims.

This invention pertains to textile machines of the kind employed for removing useful fibers from their attachments (for example, cotton gins, cotton seed linters, etc.) wherein the fiber bearing material is presented to the fiber removing elements by a fioat roll in a roll box, and relates more particularly to means for driving the float roll.

In one common type of cotton gin the seed, with its attached fiber, is placed in a roll box having therein a driven float roll which causes the cotton in the roll box to rotate while it is pressed against the grate-fall through which the teeth of the saw cylinder project to detach the fiber and carry it down through the grate-fall,-the fiber then being stripped from the saw teeth by a rotary dofier brush. In such machines it is necessary at frequent intervals to remove the saw cylinder for sharpening, and in order to expose the saw cylinder for removal, the entire breast structure, which includes the roll box with the float roll therein,the grate-fall and adjacent parts, must be displaced from normal operative position, usually by turning the breast structure upwardly about a pivotal axis, which is above and usually to the rear of the float-roll axis. As the float roll is thus mounted in a movable structure and is at times moved bodily from its normal operating position, it is necessary, when usual means are employed for driving the float roll, to disconnect some of the driving elements before the breast structure can be raised. Ordinarily the float-roll shaft is driven by a belt, but a belt drive is not wholly satisfactory, due to the tendency of belts to stretch and slip, with consequent loss in efficiency and quality of output.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved drive for the float-roll shaft, such that the breast structure, including the float roll, may be moved out of operative position without disconnecting or substantially loosening the drive connections, thus avoiding the trouble and care of disconnecting and reconnecting the drive for the float roll.

Further, the invention provides for the use of positive chain drive means instead of the usualdesirable embodiment of the invention is disclosed by way of example,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a. linter gin equipped with the improved drive mechanism, the breast structure being shown in 5 operative position;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing the breast structure raised to inoperative position;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view, to larger scale, and partly in horizontal section, showing the supporting and housing means for the improved drive mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the rear or bracket member of the housing for the float roll driving mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of one of members of the housing;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the other front member of the housing; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary plan view, partly in section, of the driving connections between the doffer brush shaft and the float roll shaft.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the left-hand end frame member of a linter gin having the present invention embodied therein. The frame of the machine is provided with normally fixed bearings for the shaft 2 of a saw cylinder 4, and a shaft 3 for a dofier brush 5. The bearings for the shaft 2 are usually so arranged that the bearings, with the shaft, may be moved forwardly to facilitate removal of the saw cylinder from the gin. The bearings for the doffer brush shaft 3 are usually adjustable to permit accurate setting of the brush with respect to the periphery of the saw cylinder.

The gin also includes a breast structure having spaced side plates, one of which is indicated at 6 (Figs. 1 and 2). The breast structure comprises the roll box B (Fig. 2) within which is arranged 40' the float roll F which is turned during the operation of the machine so as to cause the mass of seeds and fiber in the roll box to rotate and to press the fibrous mass against the bars of the grate-fall G through which the teeth'of the saw cylinder project.

In accordance with the present invention the breast structure is mounted to swing upwardly about a pivotal axis at 1 (Fig. 1) which is also indicated by the broken line I in Fig. 3. The pivotal connection of the breast structure to the main frame so as to permit such upward swing of the breast structure about the axis 1 may be of, any conventional character and such as is commonly employed in the art and which need not be the front illustrated herein. During the normal operation of the machine the breast structure occupies the position indicated in Fig. 1, but when it is desired to remove the saw cylinder, for example to sharpen the saws, the breast structure may be swung about the axis I to a position such as indicated for example in Fig. 2.

In accordance with the present invention and as here illustrated, the left-hand side member 6 of the breast structure is provided with an outstanding boss 8 which receives a stud 9 whose outer end is received in a bore in the boss III projecting from the right-hand side of a bracket structure or inner housing member H. However, While the drive for the float roll is here shown as at the left-hand side of the machine, it is obvious that it may be arranged at the right-hand side of the machine, if preferred. The bracket structure or housing member I I (preferably of cast-iron or other rigid material) is also furnished with a boss II a projecting from its right-hand face having a bore for the reception of the left-hand end of the float-roll shaft I2. Appropriate bearings (preferably of anti-friction type) for the float-roll shaft are provided in the side plates 6 of the breast structure.

The bracket member II is further furnished with a boss I3 projecting from its right hand face (Fig. 3) which has a bore in which is fixed a stub shaft I4, the latter being coaxial with the axis I about which the breast structure is arranged to swing.

The bracket member II (Fig. 4) comprises the flange or wall portions I6, I'I, I8 and I9 forming a cavity for the reception of certain driving elements herein described, the portion I6 of this wall being concentric with the axis of the float-roll shaft I2, and the portion I! being concentric with the axis I of the stub shaft I4,-the parts I8 and I9 being substantially straight and tangent to portions of the curved walls I6 and IT. The bracket member I I also comprises a curved flange or wall portion 20 disposed to the left (Fig. 4) of the wall portions It to I9 inclusive, such curved wall 20 defining a cavity for the reception of other of the drive elements. The wall 20 preferably is furnished with a wider flange portion 2i! (Fig. 4) projecting beyond the main part of the wall.

A sprocket wheel 2I (Figs. 1 and 7) is fixed to the end of the doffer brush shaft 3, and. on the stud I4 there is arranged to turn freely a hub member 23 having fixed thereto intermediate sprocket wheels 22 and 24. A sprocket wheel 25 is also fixed to the end of the float-roll shaft I2. An endless sprocket chain 26, which may be of any suitable type, but preferably of an easy running, anti-friction construction, embraces the sprockets 2| and 22, while a second similar endless chain 2'! embraces the sprockets 24 and 25. While the float-roll shaft is thus shown as driven from the dofier brush shaft, it is manifest that the sprocket wheel 22, or its equivalent, may be driven from any other convenient source of power. The sprockets 24 and 25, with the chain 21, are housed within the cavity defined by the Walls I6, I'I, I8 and I9 of the bracket member II, while the sprocket wheel 22 and a portion of the chain 23 are housed within the cavity defined by the curved wall of rim 2!) of the bracket II.

For housing the sprocket 2I and the lower part of the chain 26, and for enclosing the upper part of the latter chain and the sprocket 22, there is provided a fixed cover member 21 (Fig. 6) which may be of sheet metal or the like, having a curved flange or rim portion 28 concentric with the axis of the stub shaft I4, and of the same radius of curvature as the wall 20 of the bracket II. This upper part of the cover 2? is adapted to fit snugly against the flange 20 The cover 21 also has a curved flange 29 at its lower end which is concentric with the axis of the shaft 3. The curved flange portions 28 and 29 are connected by substantially straight portions 30 and 3|.

The housing structure for the drive mechanism also comprises the outer member or cover 32 (Fig. 5) which may be made, for example, of cast-iron or other suitable material, said cover member having ears 33 provided with openings adapted to receive bolts passing through corresponding ears I5 (Fig. 4) projecting from the bracket member I I. The cover member 32 may thus be secured to the bracket I I so as to partake of any movements of the latter. The cover member 32 is provided with a curved flange concentric with shaft I2 and adapted to engage the edge of the wall member I6 and to register with the latter, and is also furnished with a flange portion 34 having a surface which is concavely curved about the axis I of the stud I4, and which is of approximately the same radius of curvature as the wall portion 20. This concavely curved surface of the flange 34 is adapted at times to slide in contact with the curved wall 28 of the fixed member 2'I,the parts I I and 32 being in effect articulated with respect to the cover member 21. I

In the normal operation of the machine, the parts occupy substantially the position indicated in Fig. 1, the dofier brush shaft 3 being driven in usual manner by means of a belt or other drive element (not shown) engaging the pulley or the like at the right-hand end of the machine. The rotary movement of the dofier brush shaft is transmitted by means of the chain 26 to the intermediate pulley 22 and thence through the hub 23 to the sprocket wheel 24 from which motion is transmitted by the chain 21 to the sprocket wheel 25 on the float-roll shaft. By the use of the chain drive connection, the float-roll shaft is constrained to turn at a substantially constant and uniform speed relative to that of the doffer brush shaft, and thus there is no danger that the material in the roll box will fail to be presented properly to the teeth of the saw cylinder.

When it is desired to remove the saw cylinder for sharpening or otherwise and the breast structure is swung up to the position of Fig. 2, it is manifest that the drive connections between the doffer brush shaft and the roll brush shaft are not substantially disturbed, since the float roll, in thus bodily moving with the breast structure, swings about the axis 7 which is also the axis about which the intermediate sprocket wheels 22 and 24 turn. It is thus not necessary to disconnect any of the driving elements for the float roll, nor do the driving connections become slackened or otherwise disturbed when the breast structure is swung upwardly. Thus the operator is not required to remove and replace a belt, nor, in fact, to pay any attention to the drive for the float roll in moving the breast structure from and to operative position. Since the float-roll shaft is mounted in bearings which partake of the movement of the breast structure, and since the float-roll shaft has a bearing in the bracket II, and since the bracket II is connected to the breast structure by means of the stud 9, the

' bracket I I swings with the breast structure about the axis when the breast structure is raised.

, broader scope,

Since the wall 20 of the bracket II is concentric with the axis 1 about which the bracket swings, the upward swing of the breast structure does not disturb the driving chain 26 nor require removal of the housing members which house this chain and the sprockets 22 and 24. On the other hand, the outer cover member 32, which conceals the sprocket wheel 25 on the end of the float roll shaft, swings with the bracket 1! but, by reason of its articular connection with the fixed cover member 21, the member 32 is free to move with the bracket ll, sliding freely along the curved surface 28 of the cover 21.

Since the driving connections for the float roll are all housed and concealed, there is no danger that the operator will be injured by contact with the moving parts of the drive mechanism, and, on the other hand, these parts are so protected from dust and lint that they need be cleaned only at infrequent intervals.

While one desirable embodiment of the invention has thus been disclosed by way of example, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to this precise construction but is of including all equivalents and changes in structural arrangement which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A gin mechanism comprising a frame, a rotary saw cylinder, a doffer brush provided with a shaft turning in normally fixed bearings in the frame, a breast structure including a roll box and a rotary float roll in the latter, pivot means defining an axis about which the breast structure may be swung from operative to inoperative position, a bracket device having a bearing for one end of the float-roll shaft, a stub shaft carried by the bracket, the axis of said stub shaft being aligned with the axis about which the breast structure swings, means constraining the bracket device to swing concomitantly with the breast structure about the pivotal axis of the latter, the bracket having therein a cavity in which is housed a pair of coaxial relatively fixed intermediate sprocket wheels arranged to turn about the axis of said stub shaft, a sprocket fixed to the end of the float-roll shaft and also housed in the cavity in the bracket, an endless sprocket chain embracing the latter sprocket wheel and also one of the intermediate wheels, and a drive chain embracing the other intermediate sprocket wheel and turning the latter.

2. A gin mechanism comprising a frame, a rotary saw cylinder, a doffer brush provided with a shaft turning in normally fixed bearings in the frame, a breast structure including a roll box and a rotary float roll in the latter, pivot means defining an axis about which the breast structure may be swung from operative to inoperative position, means for driving the doffer brush shaft, a stud projecting from one end of the breast structure and disposed substantially parallel to the float-roll shaft, a bracket having a bearing for one end of the float-roll shaft, and a socket for said stud, a stub shaft fixed to the bracket with its axis aligned with the axis about which the breast structure swings, the bracket having therein a cavity in which is housed a pair of coaxial relatively fixed intermediate sprocket wheels arranged to turn freely upon the stub shaft, a sprocket fixed to the end of the float-roll shaft and also housed in the cavity in the bracket, an endless sprocket chain embracing the latter sprocket wheel and also one of the intermediate sprocket wheels, a sprocket wheel on the doffer brush shaft, and an endless sprocket chain embracing the latter sprocket Wheel and the other intermediate sprocket wheel.

3. A gin mechanism comprising a frame, a rotary saw cylinder, a dofier brush provided with a shaft turning in normally fixed bearings in the frame, a breast structure including a roll box and a rotary float roll in the latter, pivot means defining a pivotal axis about which the breast structure may be swung from operative to inoperative position, means for driving the dofier brush shaft, a drive-housing bracket at theouter side of one of the end members of the breast structure, said housing bracket being so associated with the breast structure as to partake of the pivotal movement of the latter, the housing bracket having a cavity therein and supporting a shaft disposed within the cavity, said shaft carrying a pair of relatively fixed intermediate sprocket wheels concentric with the axis about which the breast structure pivots, sprocket wheels fixed to the doffer brush shaft and the float-roll shaft respectively, sprocket chains each embracing one of the last-named sprocket wheels and one of the intermediate sprocket wheels, a casing housing the sprocket chain which embraces the doffer brush shaft sprocket wheel, said casing and the housing bracket having meeting edges which are curved concentrically with respect to the axis about which the breast structure pivots.

t. A gin mechanism comprising a frame, a rotary saw cylinder, a doifer brush provided with a shaft turning in fixed bearings in the frame, a breast structure including a roll box and a rotary float roll in the latter, pivot means defining a pivotal axis about which the breast structure may be swung from operative to inoperative position, and drive means including a pair of relatively fixed sprocket wheels concentric with the axis about which the breast structure pivots, sprocket chains embracing the respective sprocket wheels and arranged respectively to transmit motion between said wheels and the doffer and float-roll shafts, and a housing for the drive means, said housing comprising a bracket provided with a bearing for the end of the float-roll shaft, and means constraining the bracket to swing with the breast structure about the pivotal axis of the latter, the bracket carrying a stub shaft on which said intermediate sprocket wheels turn, said bracket having a curved rim concentric with the pivotal axis of the breast structure and defining a cavity which houses a sprocket wheel on the end of the float-roll shaft and also said intermediate sprocket wheels, an outer fixed casing member having a curved rim which registers with the curved rim of the inner casing, said outer casing member housing the doifer brush sprocket chain, and a second outer casing member attached to the inner casing member and housing the float roll sprocket chain, said second outer casing member having a concavely curved rim portion concentric with the curved rim of the inner casing member.

ROBERT W. McLEAN. 

